The government is moving toward accepting the U.S. proposal for relocating the heliport operations of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, according to government sources.
If the two countries can agree on the relocation plan in senior working-level talks to begin Monday in Tokyo, they are expected to hold top security talks Saturday in Washington and announce an interim report on realigning U.S. forces in Japan.
Most related Japanese agencies think the government should accept the U.S. proposal to build a military airport on reclaimed land in shallow water off Camp Schwab in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, the sources said.